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Lucy van Pelt
Lucy van Pelt is a regular character in the Peanuts cartoon and TV specials. She is the older sister of Linus and Rerun. History Lucy was introduced into the strip on March 3, 1952 as a wide-eyed baby who constantly tormented her parents. Very early on, Schulz eliminated the circles around her eyes and allowed her to mature to the age of the other characters. She soon grew into her familiar persona of a bossy, crabby, selfish girl. Lucy usually wears white and black saddle shoes and a dress. In the television specials the dress is colored blue. However, in later years, towards the end of the strip's run, she was seen more often in a sweatshirt and pants, until her dress was phased out altogether. Perhaps Lucy's most famous gimmick in her long existence as a character is the one in which she pulls the football away from Charlie Brown right as he is about to kick it. The first occasion on which she did this was November 16, 1952, taking over for Violet, who had previously subjected Charlie Brown to this trick on November 14, 1955. The first time that Lucy played the "footbal gag" on Charlie Brown she only pulled the ball away for fear that Charlie Brown would accidentally kick her instead. Afterwards, Lucy would always intentionally pull the football away from Charles Brown to trick him. The most infamous example of this is in the animated special It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown, where her actions cost the football team the Homecoming game, Charlie Brown is blamed by the other players even though he is clearly not at fault. Many viewers wrote to complain about Charlie Brown's unfair treatment in the special. As a result, some scenes of other players criticizing Charlie Brown were edited out in later screenings of the special. For all her crabbiness and bad temper, Lucy does have a romantic side: she is in love with Schroeder, but he does not return her affection. In this Lucy s seen as insecure, as she shows a need for assurance from Schroeder and Charlie Brown that she is pretty (constantly asking them of their opinion of her appearance), and is known to react harshly when she receives an unfavorable, or even hesitant, answer. Indeed, Lucy seems to be rather thin-skinned when it comes to being insulted herself. In one strip Linus counters her statement that he is a terrible brother by saying that she is not such a great sister either, which makes Lucy burst into tears. In another time, her reaction to Charlie Brown telling her that she is not perfect is to storm off angrily without even a word, leaving Charlie Brown to comment, "I've never seen anyone so insulted!" Relationships Linus See main article: Lucy and Linus's relationship Lucy is often annoyed by her younger brother Linus, and often bosses him around or calls him a blockhead. She hates many of his habits, and always tries to get him to give them up.. Charlie Brown Her treatment of Charlie Brown is just as bad. Aside from her infamous football trick, she gives "psychiatric advice" by insulting and belittling him. When Charlie Brown fails at something, Lucy is quick to point it out, as illustrated by the series of strips in early 1964 (later adapted into the script of ''A Boy Named Charlie Brown'') in which she puts together a slide presentation of all of Charlie Brown's faults, and subsequently demands that he pay her a sum of $143 for her services. Schroeder See main article: Lucy and Schroeder's relationship Lucy suffers from unrequited love for Schroder. Lucy's love for Schroeder has made her do crazy things. She even mentioned that the only reason she joined Charlie Brown's baseball team is because she loves Schroeder, who plays on the team as the the catcher. Schroeder usually does not appreciate her love for him, but occasionly he does. Rerun By contrast, Lucy's relationship with her youngest brother, Rerun (who entered the strip as a baby in the early 1970s but did not become a major character until the late 1990s), is much less turbulent. Despite her initial dismay over his birth (lamenting that she was experiencing a "rerun" with another baby brother, thus giving him his nickname), Lucy in fact took on something of a mentor role for Rerun, teaching him important things he needs to survive in life, such as how to tie his shoes. Rerun often shows a knack for getting around Lucy and weakening her defenses, whereas Linus is apt to give up and just let Lucy dominate him. In one strip, Lucy walks up to Rerun building a sand castle in a sandbox, and asks him what he would do if she kicked it down. Rerun responds; "Oh, nothing I guess. But years from now, when you and your Husband come over to my house, and ask me to co-sign for a loan for you, I might remember it". Lucy appears to think this over for a moment, and then walks away grinding her teeth in frustration, while Rerun smugly continues building his sand castle. Snoopy Lucy is terrified of being licked or kissed by Snoopy, and usually runs off screaming whenever he does kiss her. Snoopy is naturally infatuated with her and likes to tease her about it. On several occasions, her flirting with Schroeder has inadvertently resulted in a kiss from Snoopy - Schroeder walks away as soon as Lucy begins flirting, but then Snoopy appears, hears Lucy talking about a kiss, and kisses her, which inevitably results in Lucy running off in hysterics. Schroeder also once had Snoopy kiss Lucy to get out of kissing her himself, by having Snoopy act as his "representative" to deliver a kiss on Beethoven's birthday. Lucy and Snoopy have also occasionally found themselves in not-so-friendly competition. The two faced off in an arm-wrestling tournament once but the competition ended abruptly after Snoopy kissed Lucy on the nose and she recoiled in horror., More than once in the course of the strip they have resorted to fistfighting, Snoopy often wins by default by trying to kiss or lick Lucy's face. On several occasions, [Brown has had Snoopy stay at Lucy's house while he and his family go on vacation, and Lucy usually treats her canine house guest inhospitably i.e. forcing him to sleep outside in one of her old doll beds However, one of the most famous Peanuts strips of all time shows a rare moment of Lucy showing affection towards Snoopy by hugging him and then saying one of the most famous quotes in the strip's history, "Happiness is a warm puppy." Lucy herself acknowledged in another strip that although there were times when Snoopy drove her crazy, there were also times when she felt like hugging him, which she then proceeded to do. In the bed scene in Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown, Lucy admits that when she usually goes to bed, her mother kisses her goodnight first, Marcie, agreeing says that its hard to go to sleep without a kiss goodnight from someone, Seconds later, Snoopy comes bursting through the door and kisses all the girls except Peppermint Patty, when he kisses Lucy, she does not resist by doing anything and does not react after he kisses her. This is one exception, but normally, Lucy will never let Snoopy kiss her. Voice actors *Pamelyn Ferdin (1969-1971) *Jessica Lee Smith (1985) Quotes *(After having eaten a couple of Charlie Brown's records in front of him) "Lucy eat th' three mice mice!" * "Charles Brown! You make me mad!" (from A Boy Named Charlie Brown) * "I hate it when I get paid in dog food!" (following Snoopy's payment after telling Lucy as the "Psychiatrist" of his disappointing family reunion. * "I'd always get up real early for you." (Schroeder: For what possible reason?) "To fry your coffee!" * (After Linus' fail in "You're Not Elected Charlie Brown") "Oh you blockhead!" External link * Lucy's first appearance in Peanuts from March 3, 1952. Category:Characters Category:Bullies